Yotel Staycation Day 2

I didn't wake up with a bad night or a sore body. Hoho. I had thought of using the gym but booking is required and when I finally called to book, the earliest slot was 1pm. We already checked out leh. So many healthy people come Staycation ah? I didn't thought at all to jog outdoor in Orchard Road; jogging is too painful. Instead, I happily slept in until the alarm rang at 7am. 

Why 7am? Bcos the hotel stay comes with complimentary bfast and we booked ours for 8am. Hoho. We lazed until it was time, then slowly made our way to the restaurant. 

Daddy Lim and the kids love pick and choose bfast. Unfortunately bcos of Covid, it wasnt buffet style bfast. We got to pick one out of the 3 pre-determined sets and the bfast was served to our table. We had originally thought that we had to pay for the 4th pax but ended up, there was enough to share.

Checkout was at 12pm but we wanted to utilize our morning. We thought of heading to Sentosa beach or Hydrodash or Lunge. Conclusion? Last meeting booking doesn't work but we didn't want to make advance booking for fear of wet weather. We decided to checkout and headed for the Orchard skate park. Daddy Lim and the kids had all their skates in the car. 

We left the hotel at 10am and were happily driving to the skatepark only to find the sky starting to drizzle. Zzzzzzz. As we drove past, we also saw that the skatepark was closed. Instead, we decided to head to ECP skatepark instead. The kids could use the beach too. Auntie P and S were doing live weather reporting and reported clear sky and strong sun. Good ah. 

Little do we know that the rain clouds would chase us from Orchard to ECP. Dark clouds were looming when we arrived and then it started drizzling too when Daddy Lim and the kids started skating to the skatepark. Zzzzz. 

The skatepark was also closed. With the threatening rain, there was no way to do the skatepark anyway. We had to turn back and the double disappointment was hard to bear for the kids, driving the kids to insist that we must do something interesting for the last Saturday of the school holidays. Luckily we left bcos it started pouring within mins.

We did do something interesting; we eventually made a last minute Escape Room booking that made us $110 poorer but with very happy kids. The funniest part? The Escape Room was in Scape, right next to Yotel. We could have checked out at 12pm and walked over. Zzzzz. 环岛追追追.

While it was a hole in the pocket, it was good fun. It was one of the better escape rooms that we had done. With that, the tummies started rumbling and we settled for MacD. 

Alfresco dining with the pigeons wor, don't play play. 

That marks the end of our staycation. Zaky made me promise to bring them back to do Hydrodash. Ok, one day, ok? Hoho. 

New memories into memory bank. I always say that I watched the kids grow whenever we travel, from doing kiddy things on trip to big kids' experience. I wonder how it would be like when the border finally opens up and to travel with a pre-teen and a teenager. I look forward to the next travel and clocking my daily 20k steps during trips. I finally did that on Saturday and forgotten how 酸 the legs would be. 

I want to travel. Pui. 

Mummy Lim

 

Yotel Staycation Day 1

I am not a big fan of staycation. Each time I do my research, I would get a shock at how much one night hotel would cost and I cannot make myself click on the "book" button. I always tell Daddy Lim that if I allowed the kids unlimited screen time, anytime access to pool, 24/7 aircon, staying at home is as good as a staycation. In fact, we would be better off with big beds. Hoho.

Our Royal Caribbean cruise in beginning June was cancelled and fully refunded bcos of the heightened restrictions. Sob, I dun want a refund, I want to go cruise. We would have continued if the cruise was booked for the late June. I did check and everything was fully booked le. #sadlife

I was waiting to see if the restrictions would ease up. It did and out of desperation, I finally booked a staycation in the last weekend of the school holidays. It was for only 1 pathetic night in the Yotel hotel. Auntie S said that it is literally to sleep. Ya, I cheapskate and cannot make myself throw more money into a staycation. 

Then, we were offered a complimentary early check-in as early as 7.00am. That's was what I opted for only to realise that it was crazily early and had it amended to 8.30am. Now, we will have more time to roll around the hotel. Lol.

I was on leave on Friday for the staycation and was up at 6am to help Daddy Lim load the barangs into the car, then to have bfast together. It had been so long. By the time I was home, I still had time to hit the gym for a short HIIT. 

Zaky tagged to the gym. I thought it was good for him to burn some fats but he ended up just monkeying around. Chey. 

When we finally left the house at 8am, I felt that I had accomplished so much already. Lol. 

Yotel is in Orchard. I have no idea where it actually is. I had wanted to bring the kids to Sentosa and tried to find a nearby hotel. The taxi uncle said that it was an old carpark converted to hotel. 

Tadah!

It looks new and very IG-able.

We said "hi" to Yolanda and Yoshi too. 

At one point, we got to share the lift with one of them. It just barged in and we had to move around it to get out of the lift. Hoho. 

The one-night hotel cost us about $200. I thought the price was reasonable and had expected the room to be small. It was as small as I thought. Hoho. It comes with a loft bed and an adjustable queen-size bed, probably to try to save some space. The queen-size bed is adjustable like a hospital bed. 

The kids were thrilled to be in a hotel and had fun on the loft bed. We rolled around a little and watched some cartoon network while waiting for me to do some urgent work. 

Next - bfast. Very important. I didn't have an idea where we really were. I was very pleased to walk to a short distance to find ourselves right smacked in Orchard road! Yotel was right behind Shaw Towers. Hoho. I feel very hip to be in Orchard so early in the morning. Cheap thrill.

Bfast was at Starbucks. The 2 pax per table restrictions was alright. 

It was already 10am and completed with a trip to Isetan for bread and snacks. We headed back to the hotel for packing up before the mrt ride to Sentosa. Nobody complain.

It was on the mrt that I realised the my HP was left with 50% battery. With all the rushing, I have left the power bank in the hotel. Die. Lil Shauna was the only one with sufficient battery and we had to rely on her hp for all pictures for the day. 

The 1st stop of the day was the beach. I had a call at 12pm and our next event was some VR games pre-booked at 1pm. With the little time, we headed for the nearest beach. It was Siloso beach and I found a nice little shady spot while the kids headed for the sea. It was freaking hot and we were all happy. 

I had to lug the kids back after 45 mins to be in time for the VR. I was on call and trying to take notes while we went in search for the toilet and waited for the kids to clean up plus walked back to the tram station. All the while, I felt sweat dripping down my back. Hot siah. 

The VR is located next to USS. We bought 130 fun pass tokens using the $100 Rediscover Singapore vouchers. It wasn't anything to scream about. In fact, we found the games and facilities a little old. 

For hygiene sake, we were to wear this cute panda eye cover. 

We were famished by the time we were done. I offered Malaysia boleh but the kids were happy with the bread and snacks that we bought earlier. We had an alfresco dining before making our way back to Siloso beach for the grand finale - the Big Swing. 

We made a reservation for 3.30pm and had to top up the fun pass with $50. The sky was cloudy and I heard thunder rolling in a distant. I was worried about wet weather but eventually decided to press ahead. It was the same venue for the Bungee Jumping and there was a long Q and wait. So many people so 想不开 and wanted to do free fall. 

I only signed up for the kids. Hohoho. Bcos I 想很开. All participants had to weigh in, probably to calculate the rope length. It is another good reason for me to skip the Big Swing; my weight is not meant to be made public. Hoho. 

There was strong wind and for once in my life, I was told that my kids were too light. Lol. We got to wait by the beach for the wind to die down. Finally after a long wait, the wind was tamed enough. I couldnt accompany the kids to the platform and I bet they were happy to have each other. 

Lil Shauna had the go pro attached to her waist. The swing was then lifted into the air and Zaky had to pull a little loop to activate the swing. I heard Lil Shauna complained afterwards that Zaky didn't give her any warning. Lol. The video showed her closing her eyes tight shut in the 1st few seconds. 

The kids had a blast. It took a while before they finally dropped. Meanwhile, I saw somebody bungee jumped and she was thrown up and down like a rag doll. I don't know why anyone would want to bungee jump. I dont like free falling at all. The kids said that the 1st few seconds were free falling as well. Eewwwkkk, heng I didn't ride. 

The Big Swing swung away the kids' energy as well. With that, the kids were ready to go back to the hotel. Nobody asked to go anymore beach or luge or anything. What's left is a very tired and whinny Zaky, who asked every few mins about how much longer to the hotel. Zzzzzzz. It is the same way that we took to come lah. 

Lil Shauna saw Shake Shack and wanted that for dinner. I is mountain tortoise and ordered Shake Shack for the 1st time of my life. It tasted like.... Burger and Fries. Hohoho. Not bad lah. The honey mustard sauce is very good.  

We spent the rest of the evening lazing on the bed, watching Nat Geo and Animal Planet while waiting for Daddy Lim. How long has it been since we last did that in a hotel? Awwwww... 

Zaky took a nap, I simply dozed off in front of the TV like an old grandma. We had to lug him off the bed to go swimming bcos I made a booking for 9pm. The pool is limited to 5 pax per hour. 

The water was surprisingly warm despite the night. Nobody really wanted to swim bcos it was so dark and scary. I only wanted the kids to wash away the sand from the beach. Lol. 

Daddy Lim finally came to join us at 9.30pm. We adjourned back to the room and ended off the night with 7-11 supper as well as more TV watching. 

Lil Shauna had the whole loft bed to herself. She said that she felt bad that we had to squeeze together in the queen bed but not bad enough to ask one of us to go sleep in the loft bed with her. Hoho. I got to sleep in the middle of the 2 boys. I don't like but it didn't turn out to be too bad a night. I didn't feel squashed. 

With that, it ended our night of staycation. 

Mummy Lim